Jesus: God and Man
key words
biblical reference
Matthew 3:1-17
lesson objective
To help the students understand that Jesus is unique because he is divine and human at the same time, so he is perfectly qualified to be the Savior of the world
memory verse
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3a, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
When Jesus asked John the Baptist to baptize him, he was identifying with sinners. John the Baptist required that people recognize their sins before being baptized. Jesus, the Son of God, had no sin. However, he decided to relate to sinful humanity through baptism.
This was one more step towards the final and complete identification of Jesus with the people, his death on the cross. Nailed to it, he took the sins of the whole world, including those of the students in your group, so that we all have the opportunity to be saved.
It is not easy for adults––or children––to understand the humanity and divinity of Jesus. Our human tendency is to focus too much on his humanity or only on his divinity. This lesson will help the preadolescents understand some evidence of the two aspects of Jesus’ nature.
biblical commentary
There is a possibility that by becoming so familiar with the Gospel of Matthew we overlook the wonderful stories it tells.
Before arriving at Matthew 3, which is the biblical basis for this lesson, we see that the apostle told us of at least three miracles and mysteries. In 1:18, he explains the conception of Jesus, which was different from any other baby born before or after him. Mary “was found to have conceived of the Holy Spirit.” In 2:2 and 2:9, we see that a star, often use for navigation on the seas, guided the magi (wise men) to Jesus. In 2:11, Matthew reveals that John the Baptist was the prophet who knew that someone higher than he would come. That person would bring a new baptism by the Holy Spirit with fire.
These three passages contain so many miracles, and at the same time, mysteries!
In 3:13-17, we find the most important mystery: the completely divine and completely human nature of Jesus is revealed. This connection of the two natures present in Jesus at the same time is difficult to understand. Any comparison that we can use will not fully explain its unique characteristic.
It is this unequaled characteristic of Jesus that allows him to be our Savior. The perfect balance is necessary. The emphasis on just one of these characteristics would cause problems. If Jesus had remained simply divine, not only would he not have been human, but he would not be able to relate to our problems and our nature. If Jesus had been only human and not divine, what difference would there be between him and us? If it had been so, he would not have had the ability to be our Savior.
The story that Matthew tells of Jesus’ baptism clarifies that he was completely human and divine at the same time. The baptism of Jesus was a human symbol. Jesus revealed his human nature by submitting to this ritual. At the moment when the Lord came out of the water, a divine sign came: the sky opened and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. Words spoken from heaven verified that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God the Father.
The human and divine nature of Jesus Christ qualified him to be our Savior and our example. When we read Matthew’s account, we understand that baptism was much more than washing with water. It symbolized an obedient submission to the will of the Father and the affirmation of the Spirit that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Jesus came from heaven to earth to give us abundant life, freedom from sin, and power to live in victory through the Holy Spirit. Is not this reason enough to be immensely grateful to God?
introduce the lesson
Mural: “Jesus, is Unique”
Look for pictures of Jesus that show him doing miracles, walking on the water, being baptized, in the temple, among groups of people, at the Last Supper, etc. In the group, ask students to help you line a poster with colored poster paper. You can make a nice border, made with wrapping paper or strips of colored paper. In the middle of the mural, ask them to place illustrations of the Lord’s life and miracles. Take this moment to talk with them about the various miracles and emphasize the fact that he was God and human.
On one side of the mural, place the important words: divine and human.
Explain that the next few weeks they’ll learn why we say that Jesus is unique. There was not, is not, nor will there ever be another like him who is God and man at the same time.
Important words
Divine: God, or have the qualities or characteristics of God.
Human: mortal person created by God.
Write these two words with their meanings on cards of appropriate size to place on the mural. You can take pieces of cardboard so that the students can write the two words in large letters and decorate them with colors and designs of their own choice.
Provide markers, colored pens or pencils, crayons, beads, stickers, etc., so that they can decorate the important words of this lesson and unit. You can use figures from old Christmas cards to paste the letters of the figure of Jesus as a baby, or other pictures that show him performing miracles. This will help the preadolescents understand in a visual way that Jesus was truly human and divine.
teach the lesson
The radiance of the glory of God
Before the session prepare a sign that says “Jesus is human and divine.” Write each letter on separate cards of the same size. When the students answer the Bible Quizzing questions (below) correctly, they can come forward and place each letter in the correct order until the sentence is completed. Give them the second activity sheet from the students’ resources (The Radiance of the Glory of God). Read John 1:14 aloud. Explain that “the Word” refers to the Son of God, before he was conceived as Jesus Christ, while he was in heaven.
Say: “When Jesus was young, there were not many people who knew he was the Son of God. They thought he was just a good Jewish person. But when Jesus was ready to begin his ministry, God decided to make his identity public.”
Now ask the students to help you read the passage from Matthew 3:1-17. Then divide into two groups: such as red and green, or boys and girls. The two teams should be lined up, sitting one facing the other. (Take time to prepare the room for this activity.)
Bible Quizzing
Ask the following questions, moving down the line with each question, and whichever team knows the answer first will stand up immediately and answer. If the answer is incorrect, the one who is sitting across from him/ her will have the opportunity to answer. If neither of these two students knows the answer, the question will be asked of the next student(s) in the line. No one can help other teammates. Each team will provide a scorekeeper, who will take the count to know which team got the highest score (1 point per correct answer).
Explain: “Now that you know about Jesus’ baptism, we’ll see how much you remember about the story we read.” If two students “jump” at the same time, both will be asked a question and possibly one point will be given to each one.
From what material were John’s clothes made? (Camel hair)
What did John eat? (Locusts and wild honey)
What did John tell the people they should do? (Repent)
Which Old Testament prophet mentioned John? (Isaiah)
Where did John the Baptist preach? (In the desert)
How does the prophet Isaiah describe the work that John the Baptist would do? (He would prepare the way of the Lord.)
What did the people do who were baptized by John? (They confessed their sins.)
What did John the Baptist call the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to see the people being baptized? (Vipers or snakes)
What did the Pharisees and Sadducees count on to believe that they were in a close relationship with God? (They were descendants of Abraham.)
What did John use to baptize people? (Water)
In what river did John baptize? (Jordan River)
What was John’s purpose for baptizing people? (He wanted people to repent of their sins)
Who did John say would come? (One who was more powerful than him)
What kind of fruit should the Pharisees and Sadducees offer? (Worthy of repentance)
The one who came after John, with what would he baptize? (With the Holy Spirit and fire)
Who came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John? (Jesus)
How did John react when Jesus wanted to be baptized by him? (He was surprised, he thought that Jesus should baptize him, and not the other way around.)
What descended like a dove on Jesus when he came out of the water? (The Holy Spirit of God)
What did the voice that came from heaven say? (“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”)
Where would the straw burn? (In the fire that would never go out)
If you wish, you can give a bookmark or a biblical portion to reward the winning team members.
connect the lesson
God = Jesus
Ask the students to read Hebrews 1:3, and guide them to Student Activity Sheet #375 (Exact Representation). Say: “Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, because he is all God. He reveals and expresses who and what God is. He also identifies himself totally with us because he is completely human.”
Lead the students in the activity so that they complete the two sentences at the bottom of the page. Say: “Jesus is one hundred percent God and one hundred percent human. He is the only person about whom we can say this. Let’s think, why is this important? Why is it significant for us that Jesus is divine and human?”
Let the students talk about what they think about it. Jesus can relate to us because he is human. He is the only one who can save us because he has no sin. It is something that we should be very happy about. Let’s express our gratitude and joy to the Lord for sending Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Provide time for students to complete the sentences:
I’m happy that Jesus is fully human because ____________________________.
I’m happy that Jesus is fully God, divine because ____________________________.
practice the memory verse
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3a).
Since the verse has 16 words in this version, including the scripture reference, write each one on a different card. You can make two sets if you want to divide into two groups to have a learning competition.
Before the session, hide the cards in the room. Ask the students to find them and assemble the text. Organize a two teams to search for the cards.
Another option is to have the students sing the text to the beat of a known chorus while pretending to march in a band around or near the meeting area. Use your creativity to learn by playing.
wrap-up
Pray
Pray for your students that their faith will increase. Ask the students to pray giving thanks to the Lord for the mystery of the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.
Encourage
This is an excellent opportunity to encourage the students to ask the Lord to develop their faith. It is good if you say that this is a mystery that we often wish to understand in its entirety, but that is not possible. We can ask for explanations, look for answers, but they can never satisfy all our concerns. Some situations found in the Bible are not easy to understand, and we can only understand them through faith. Two important truths are: (1) faith in almighty God, and (2) belief in the Christ who lived like us, who overcame temptation, who had strength to prevail over the most horrible death and who really understands us. These truths will help us keep walking close to him despite the questions and concerns we may have.
Invite
Share something interesting about the next session to encourage attendance. Remind the group that visitors are welcome.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™